(irritating) Passport getting woes. My bad for being alternative.

[maize]

So I was curious and did a search, my kids' birth certificates cost $28, $23, or $20 depending on the state and county where they were born.

[MysteryJen]

My dad needed a new passport when he was about 70 and he was born at home in rural Colorado. No birth certificate could be found. He was refused a passport, even though he had previously issued passports, visas, and was drafted and served in the Army. They finally accepted a handwritten (in Spanish) copy of his baptismal record from 1932.

 

It was the only time I ever heard my mom say something nice about the Church!

[Laura Corin]

I believe the fact that the Social Security Administration issued a Social Security number to your son indicates that agency considers him to be either a U.S. Citizen  or a Legal Permanent Resident of the United States.  Do you have the evidence you furnished to the Social Security Administration to get his Social Security number?  I believe that is the best evidence you have.

 

 

I don't think that that is correct, Lanny. I was given an SS number while on a temporary Green Card - I never received my permanent one.  I was not a legal permanent resident.

 

[milovany]

If you have filed the correct paperwork and been denied for a homebirth, just call your state rep ASAP.  I had trouble with my youngest's passport ... I called my state rep and had a passport in the mail by the end of the week.

 

It will obviously depend on the rep.  I did the same thing and he wasn't able (or willing) to help me at all. 

 

 

Just so it's clear, the state of AZ issues identical birth certificates to homebirth, birth center and hospital births. It asks for the name of the hospital or the address of the homebirth in the same box.  I suspect Joanne is dealing with an idiot government employee.

 

It's not just the paper certificate (whether it's the same or not), it's the word "home" related to the birth that raises a red flag for some passport processors because (I surmise) in the moment, they think, "Well, how do WE know they were really born here if they were born at home?" This despite the fact that the state verified as much before issuing the certified birth certificate that they hold in their hands.  To get a birth certificate for an at-home birth in out state, both mother and father have to fill out some paperwork, as does any attending person(s), and then there needs to be a notarized statement from a doctor, clergyman or some such person saying they verified the birth of the child shortly after the birth.  (We would invite over a family friend who is an ordained minister within a day or so.) All this proof happened at the state level at the time of birth and they wouldn't issue the certificate without it.  It's aggravating to have to try and prove it anew to the federal government 16+ years after the fact when the certificate we've given them meets the criteria listed on their own website. 

[Lanny]

I don't think that that is correct, Lanny. I was given an SS number while on a temporary Green Card - I never received my permanent one.  I was not a legal permanent resident.

 

 

 

That makes the SS number the DS of the OP has, even less interesting to the State Department.  

 

Great that the OP knows about this issue now, and that she can work on getting documentation that proves  to the satisfaction of the Passport Agency and other U.S. Government Departments that he was born in the USA and that he is a U.S. Citizen.  .He has no proof that satisfies them at this time that he is a U.S. Citizen, which is not a good position for him to be in.

[FaithManor]

In Michigan, doctor's statements and preschool records count for state id's when additional documentation is requested. I wonder if something like this would work...maybe a letter from a doctor that he would have seen at birth, pediatrician, GP, etc. stating he was a patient who lived at blah, blah, blah address at the time services were rendered. So if he saw a doc anytime in that four years, though they will have to research back since he is no longer a patient, they haven't destroyed his files because that's illegal... it is stored somewhere. It just make take them a week or two to drudge up the information.

 

We had to do this with Christopher for his state id because our local secretary of state's office is snottier than hell to homeschoolers and though the law states that minors only need to provide their social security number and a birth certificate for a state id prior to turning 18, they won't issue it to homeschoolers without additional documentation despite complaints all the way to the state attorney general. Apparently it is okay to break the law when it comes to homeschoolers. Meanwhile, during the discussion with the not so nice manager of the place, a kid came in with a school id, no birth certificate, no social security number and they gave him one no questions asked. I brought that up and was told, "He's publicly schooled." :cursing:

 

They had us over a barrel, he needed the state id because he wouldn't turn 18 before he needed his college ID and the college ID could not be issued if he didn't have a driver's license or state ID (couldn't get the driver's license because he was still recovering from the accident and could not take the driving test with the instructor because he was still on pain meds and flexural and in physical therapy, and the injured leg is his "driving leg"), so we went back with a letter from his doctor, mail addressed to him by U of MI with our address on the letter, his bank account statement, and a letter from the Lutheran school he attended for preschool stating that they knew him to be an American citizen as well as a Michigan resident as a child. Then they begrudgingly gave him the state ID.

 

So maybe you could ask if doctor's notes or preschool enrollment or whatever would work.

 

 

[Matryoshka]

My dad needed a new passport when he was about 70 and he was born at home in rural Colorado. No birth certificate could be found. He was refused a passport, even though he had previously issued passports, visas, and was drafted and served in the Army. They finally accepted a handwritten (in Spanish) copy of his baptismal record from 1932.

 

That is so weird that they don't just accept old passports.  I'm guessing my mother must have used my BC to get my first passport when I was a kid, but I've always just used expired ones to get a new one.  Same with my kids - used their BC for the first one, but since then we've just renewed with the old one.

 

I don't think i have a copy of my BC.  Hopefully the hospital where I was born would have it?  I know the town, but I'd have to ask my mom which hospital.  I wasn't baptized at birth, either...

 

Guess I need to keep my passport fairly current!  For anything that asks for a BC, I've found they've always accepted a passport instead...

[IdahoHomeschooler]

Without getting into a political philosophy discussion and keeping it to just a practical discussion, have the people who advocate government run healthcare not had to deal with idiot government employees before whose ignorance can significantly impact your life? Have they not heard the phrase, "You can't fight city hall"?.

Ha ha! THIS is why I support a healthcare reform, but not a national healthcare system. No way is the federal government capable of running something like that. They are experts in INefficiecy. It is also the reason I scoff at the conspiracy theorists. The Feds can't even do a basic job well, much less handle something on that large of scale.

[AHASRADA]

So I was curious and did a search, my kids' birth certificates cost $28, $23, or $20 depending on the state and county where they were born.

You guys made me wonder if the cost had gone up recently in my state, so I checked. Nope, still $10.